


Meet Me by the Bookshelves

by Salted_Limez



Series: Meet Me by the Bookshelves Universe [1]
Category: Wynonna Earp (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, Bisexual Waverly Earp, Books, Champ's Garbage, F/F, First Meetings, Lesbian Nicole Haught, Library AU, Mentioned Hardy Champ, Nicole Haught Is Smooth, Vanilla-Dipped Donuts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-17
Updated: 2021-01-17
Packaged: 2021-03-15 05:29:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,265
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28808124
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Salted_Limez/pseuds/Salted_Limez
Summary: Hi, all my Guys, Gals, and Non-Binary pals!!! So hear me out, what if Wayhaught met in the Library, AND Nicole Haught was still so~ smooth. Well, here it is Y'all! Anyways that's all I'm going to say and you're just going to have to read this to see how it goes, and p.s, it goes really well :)
Relationships: Waverly Earp & Nicole Haught, Waverly Earp/Nicole Haught
Series: Meet Me by the Bookshelves Universe [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2202918
Comments: 8
Kudos: 121





	Meet Me by the Bookshelves

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own these characters, I just own my idea. They belong to the lovely creators of Wynnona Earp {If you haven't seen the show I ~highly~ suggest you watch it}  
> This is also not beta'd so any mistakes are mine.

“Part of me feels like we should take you to the hospital, but at the same time this  _ is _ kind of hilarious.”

Waverly’s eyes narrowed as she swiveled her head around from where she was placing a book low on a shelf to look at her best friend. “Thank you Chrissy for your  _ kind _ consideration”, she said, drawing out the word to make her point. Looking at the clock, she saw it was only about forty minutes into her six-hour shift at Purgatory’s Library.  _ Wow, I have a long way to go.  _

“Hey I didn’t tell you to down a triple espresso”, Chrissy told her with a snort. “You know if you wanted to be more focused for your shift you could have just gotten enough sleep instead of thinking about you-know-who.” She wiggled her eyebrows in Waverly’s direction.

“I have no idea what you’re suggesting Chris.” Well, that was a total lie. Of course, Waverly knew exactly who she was talking about. Nicole Haught, Purgatory’s newest deputy. She saw her all over town. When she was with Wynnona at _Shorty’s_ hustling drunk boy-men for all their pocket cash at the pool table, when she went grocery shopping for the odd combo of pickles and bananas for her sister’s latest hangover, _heck_ , Waverly even caught glances of Nicole when she went to the laundromat to do laundry because god forbid the homestead have a working washer and dryer. 

Chrissy waved her hands around. “You know maybe if you talked to her, you could get a Saturday morning date instead of six long, horrendous hours in this dusty and musty old library.” The old feel of the library was indescribable and one of the reasons Waverly loved to work there. Sure it was dusty and more ancient than Nedley’s tacky blue couch in his office, but she believed that you could just  _ smell  _ the rich history and knowledge in the air, and that was something she could never hate. 

“Well, you would be nervous too if you were crushing on her.” She breathed out a wistful sigh. “I mean she’s just so beautiful Chrissy.” Waverly watched as her friend opened her mouth to reply, but quickly lost her focus as she heard the old door to the building swing open. She flitted her eyes down to her watch just in time to see the face read an almost exact 1:15 pm. 

Waverly heard her before she saw her. She could hear the faint squeak of brand-new, department-issued shoes on grainy tile, and she could hear the light clinking of a perfectly-shined belt buckle. She closed her eyes and sent up a silent prayer in hopes of not making herself look like a fool in front of Nicole. She gradually opened her eyes to see what row of shelves the redhead had walked down.  _ Mystery and Crime, of course,  _ she thought with an affirming hum. 

Chrissy rolled her eyes. She was used to by now Waverly acting like a love-struck dork whenever Nicole was in the vicinity. This had been going on for a whole month, and she was ready to shake her friend if it meant she would at least talk to her crush. Then suddenly she got an idea. Chrissy started rummaging around on the ‘Return to Shelves’ book cart until she had a stack of eleven books. She leisurely strolled to where Waverly was leaned up against the counter daydreaming and dropped them on the counter, wrinkling her nose at the small puff of dust they threw up. 

“Well, would you look at that Waves, we now have some books that just happen to belong in the Mystery and Crime section.” There was no way Chrissy was going to let Waverly get away from approaching Nicole. 

Startled from her thoughts, Waverly was quick to figure out what Chrissy was suggesting. “No way Chrissy, why can’t you go if it’s so important?” Waverly knew her friend was about to give an excuse, and she also knew that once Chrissy set her mind to something, there was no chance of getting out of it. She barely heard Chrissy’s muttered excuse before her friend was scurrying off, smirking at her master plan. She let out an unsteady sigh.  _ Better get this over with _ .

She scooped up the books, awkwardly carrying them because they weren’t exactly light and they almost went past her eyes in height. Guiding herself to the right row of shelves, Waverly carefully walked down the row, her head out to the side in an attempt to see (it wasn’t working).

She could see Nicole standing at the far end of the shelves as she placed down the stack on the ground next to her. As she began to put the first book on the shelf, Waverly could feel her eyes gravitating to Nicole.  _ Wow her uniform looks good  _ she thought as her eyes quickly ran up Nicole’s backside. She licked her lips lightly. A _ nd those khakis.  _ Waverly shook her head as she turned back towards the bookshelf and decided to at least try to focus. She grabbed the next book in the pile and recognized that it went on the top shelf. Waverly decided to try to get the book back onto the high shelf by herself, even though she usually used her trusty step-ladder (Wynnona had broken it when she had tried doing a party trick at the library while drunk, and  _ that  _ had ended with both of them going to the hospital for her sister’s broken wrist). Waverly Earp was damn well stubborn, and she was  _ positive  _ she could get the book up to its designated spot.  _ Come on you stu- _

Her thought was abruptly cut off as she felt herself tilt dangerously backwards off-balance. She flailed her arms in a desperate attempt to grab on to something. Her hands snagged on a few of the books’ spines, pulling hardbacks and paperbacks with her.  _ Shit, shit, shit!  _ Waverly’s mind flashed back to when Willa made her climb atop of the barn’s beams and how she had almost fallen. She could physically feel her heart drop to the pit of her stomach as she braced for impact.

Only it never came. Strong arms wrapped around her waist and she could feel her body lean back into whoever was behind her. Fingers interlocked in front of her stomach in an attempt to balance her, their hands warm and soft where her crop-top had decidedly ridden up. Her heart steadied as she began to realize she hadn’t fallen and that she was safe.

She heard the person give a little sigh. Waverly craned her neck to see who had caught her from her near-fall. As she turned, her eyes shot straight to the Purgatory Sheriff's Department patch stitched onto the shirt’s sleeve. It was at that moment when she decided to look up.

The pictures on the Sheriff Department’s website did not do Nicole justice. Her eyes were a welcoming chocolaty brown. As Waverly traced her face with her eyes she saw details that could only be seen up close. The small beauty mark under Nicole’s left eye, the flecks of gold lacing her irises, up close even her dimple seemed to stand out more, and when Nicole spoke it was something else entirely. 

“Hey”, she said softly. “You okay there? I saw you start to fall and I rushed over to catch you.” Nicole paused, mentally facepalming herself at stating the obvious. “I hope you don’t mind.” She said with a tender smile. She took her hands back that were resting on Waverly’s hips, worried that they were uncomfortable for the shorter woman.

Waverly took a deep breath in through her nose and smiled, her eyes slightly crinkling around the corners.  _ Of course, Nicole smells like vanilla-dipped donuts.  _ “Sorry Officer Haught, I was trying to get this book back on the bookshelf”, she said waving around the book. She scanned the ground around them and saw books littering the ground, internally groaning since she would be responsible for putting them back. She uttered an embarrassed laugh, waving her hands at the books strewn across the ground. “Only now it looks like I’m going to be putting a few more back.” Waverly watched as Nicole’s dimple deepened in amusement for a moment.

“If you’d like, I could help you if that’s okay?” Waverly didn’t miss the way Nicole’s eyes shone as her tone started to give way to flirting banter. “And, technically, as an officer of the law, it _is_ my duty to help.” Nicole tucked her thumbs into her belt loops in an attempt to not nervously fidget in front of Waverly. Since arriving in Purgatory she had heard people talk about the town’s sweetheart, but she hadn’t talked to Waverly till now. The closest she had been to Waverly was when she and Lonnie had stopped by _Shorty’s_ during a shift and she’d seen Waverly wiping the counter from where the Big Rock Rooster Tap had leaked, mumbling something about Shorty needing to fix the damn taps. She paused before continuing. 

“I’ve been uh, I’ve been meaning to introduce myself.”She cleared her throat and watched as Waverly’s head tilted to the left subconsciously.  _ Wow, she is adorable.  _ “I’m Nicole. Nicole Haught.” She grinned, her dimples deepening and being mirrored back at her by Waverly. She held out her hand, watching as a softer, smaller one took it in.

"And you are Waverly Earp." Nicole couldn’t help but gaze into her eyes, watching as forests of green turned brighter as if sunlight was shining through. "Quite a popular girl around here." She gave Waverly’s fingers a gentle squeeze and let go of her hand, palms dropping to hit her uniform’s khakis. 

Waverly responded with a nervous laugh. "Oh you know, it's all in the smile and wave!” She lets her eyes wander over Nicole’s tall frame. She couldn’t help but notice how she towered over her by quite a few inches. She wasn’t ever really worried about height in relationships, but sometimes it did become annoying when her partner (well more like an ex-partner since she'd dumped him) constantly nagged her about it.  _ Ugh, Champ _ . She had tossed out the boy-man after the 3rd time catching him cheating, this time with Samantha 'Perky Tits' Baker.  _ He was garbage anyways, I just needed to realize there are other, better, people to fight for _ , she thought while shifting her eyes to gaze up at Nicole. What she didn’t expect was for Nicole to already be looking at her, a breathy pause passing between them. 

Nicole cleared her throat nervously, gaining the brunette's attention. “We should probably clean this up before we get yelled at Waves.” Her eyes widened with realization.  _ Oh crap, I just called her Waves, I don’t even know if she’s okay with that, what if she doesn’t _ -.

“I like it,” Waverly stated while wringing her hands. “It uh, it suits me.” She swallowed. “I could see it in your eyes, the panic. I like it, Nicole. I promise”, she said, shrugging her shoulders as a way of explanation. Waverly nodded. “But yea you’re right, we should clean this up before we get in trouble.” She crouched down, picking up the books and a couple of their jackets that had slipped off in the flurry of her fall. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Nicole have to bend her knees to completely reach the books on the ground and she giggled. 

“Laughing at me already huh?” Waverly would have thought that Nicole was serious if it weren’t for the mischievous glint in her eye. She watched along as Nicole grinned.  _ Oh my GOD, those dimples are going to kill me _ . 

“Well when you’ve got to bend down like that it is just slightly funny,” her thumb and forefinger pinching together to show what she thought. “And you know, if you wanted to help you could always just put the books on the top parts of the shelf while I hand them up to you.”

Nicole nodded her agreement, standing back up to her full height while she took a few books marked  _ ‘Deaver’  _ and placed them on the shelf. As they slowly put the books back in their individual slots, they exchanged glances and smiles till Nicole was sure that Waverly’s smile would be ingrained in her mind. 

Waverly looked at Nicole when she only had a couple books left. Sure it had taken them about ten minutes total to clean up the mess, but she was disappointed that it didn’t last longer even though she really wanted it to. As she handed the last book up, she realized that it wasn’t one from that letter section and she narrowed her eyes confusedly. The cover was old and frayed, and you could just barely make out the last name  _ ‘Roberts’  _ along the cracked spine. 

“It’s mine actually. I was holding onto it till I could reach the counter to return it and get a new one” Nicole told her while gently taking it from Waverly. “For as long as I’ve been coming here I try to check it out at least once a month because it reminds me of my family and hometown.” She chuckled. “I know it’s an older copy but it just feels homier so I always pick it.” 

Waverly instantly agreed. Her favorite books from her childhood had the same feel. The worn-down pages that were as soft as silk and the rich black ink had faded to a softer stone-washed grey. In some of her older novels, she had underlined and highlighted her favorite parts to add some more character to the books. She started to get lost in her thoughts about what some of Nicole’s books at home may have looked like, and what else she'd read. Waverly only looked up when she heard her name.

“You know Waves if you wanted to help me pick out a new book I wouldn’t mind it.” Nicole was genuinely curious as to what Waverly would pick for her. She also knew that she would be starting the new book tonight, even if it meant she lost a little bit of sleep before her shift tomorrow. 

“Yea I can if you’re sure that it’s okay with you.” Nicole hummed as a way of response and helped Waverly stand up, their hands fitting almost perfectly together till they let go.

Walking down the rows of shelves, Waverly stopped at one that was a little barer than the others around it. She knew exactly which book she would give to Nicole of course. It was one of her favorite mystery novels with twists and turns.  _ The Woman in Cabin 10 _ by Ruth Ware was right up Nicole’s alley, and she couldn’t help but be excited about sharing a little piece of herself with the redhead. She plucked it off the shelf and sat it down in Nicole’s palms. Nicole studied the cover before saying “good choice,” her dimples reappearing and giving Waverly butterflies. 

“Yea. I hope you like it, I've read it a couple of times and it was pretty good.” She watched as Nicole’s face shined with delight as if she had just been given a gold medal. 

“Thank you Waves. You think we’re ready to head up to the front?” Her head tilted in the general direction of the check-out desk. 

Waverly couldn’t help but frown slightly. It was the first real-time she had been able to talk to Nicole and it didn’t even last an hour. “You should be able to check-out, at least once you return the other one anyways.”  _ I mean I know I am definitely checking you out but still _ . 

They walked in step till they reached the desk and ancient computer where books were processed. Going through the stall door, Waverly took Nicole’s new book and checked it out for her, watching as nimble fingers skillfully typed in her ID number. 

Nicole decided to be just a little bit flirty and let her voice deepen just a bit.  _ I mean it can’t hurt, right?  _ “Here’s my old book, keep her safe for me will you?” As Waverly nodded Nicole continued. “Thanks for the new book by the way. ”She allowed her voice to take on the Georgian twang from her home state. “And by the way Waves, I’ll see you around.” Nicole threw her a wink with an imaginary hat tip and walked towards the doors, watching as the brunette waved her goodbye.

Waverly couldn’t help but be entranced. The wink, the dimples,  _ hell  _ even the southern drawl that had slipped in when Nicole was saying she’d see her again.  _ Wait, what could she mean by that?  _

That’s when she saw it, a worn corner of cardstock sticking out of the book Nicole had returned. Waverly slipped it out from between the pages and looked at what it was only to be shocked.

It turned out to be Nicole’s business card, her phone number steadily written down with the words  _ ‘How about coffee sometime?’  _ with a curvy wave drawn in the corner. 

She couldn’t believe it. Nicole  _ freaking  _ Haught had slipped Waverly her business card. She couldn’t contain the smile that split across her face. 

.

.

.

Sure Purgatory was known for its cold temperatures, but as Nicole Haught stood outside on the unshoveled sidewalk she felt warm and cozy inside (plus she was on cloud nine which was always a bonus in her opinion). The only issue was now her heart was erratic, the nerves of being in the same building with Waverly finally catching up to her.

She took a deep breath, exhaling shakily as she watched her breath drift upwards in intricate spirals.  _ What if she loses the card, or what if she doesn't want to go out on a date with me? Maybe she doesn’t even like coffee. Maybe I should have offered to take her to dinner ins- _

A muted ping. That’s what it sounded like right? She’d heard it in the middle of the spiral, but she wasn’t sure where it had come from. The only person on the street was her, and there wasn’t a single thing in her line of sight that could sound like that.  _ Could it be? _

Nicole reached into her jacket’s fleece-lined coat pocket, her hand digging around past a stick of gum and some hairpins before she finally found what she was looking for. 

Her phone vibrated right as she reached it and she felt her heart stir with anticipation.  _ Maybe, just maybe it is her _ . As she pulled out her phone it caught on the pocket’s flap, and her phone flipped face down into the dry snow. It landed with a poof, snow being blown back up into her face.

“Shit!” Nicole searched through the snow, sputtering to get the offending powder out of her mouth. Her fingers hit the phone case and she pulled it up out of the snow. The redhead frantically pulled up her messages and saw two new notifications. 

_ ‘Coffee sounds really good, Miss Haught! How about tomorrow morning?’  _ was what the screen read, and she quickly glanced down at the next text and read ‘ _ Oh and this is Waverly Earp in case you forgot Deputy ;)’  _

Nicole couldn’t believe it, Waverly Earp had seen her card _and_ had wanted to go on a date with her. She chuckled in amusement, grinning from ear-to-ear and shaking her head as she started her walk back to the station, her mind filled with thoughts of one Waverly Earp. 

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed this, and let me know what you thought/ if you think I should continue!
> 
> So yea that's basically it! Limez out *throws a bisexual scented peace sign*


End file.
